Oh, for an old car…
Oh, for an old car…
(A lament by an almost-octogenarian)
The first car I owned (in partnership with my older brother) when I was 16 years old was a 1950 second-hand Ford Custom Coach. It had a stick shift mounted on the steering column using the usual “H” system – top left for 1 st , bottom left for 2 nd , top right for 3 rd and bottom right for reverse. Damn! Maybe it was different than that but I don't remember well enough. At least it wasn't 5 or 6 forward gears like some cars are today. I don’t recall it having directional signals, so we had to stick our arms out the window to signal our intention. As well, to drop the bright headlights the button was on the floor. And then the radio – how simple it was – two dials, the left one for on/off and volume, with the right one for moving the pointer across the channels. I think it even had 5 buttons which could be manually set (no “touch” electronics) by finding a station, pulling the button out, then in, and it was set on one of 5 A.M. stations – no F.M. back then.
Much later I bought a Volvo 760GLE that had a radio with so many buttons and controls I had no idea how to use it. Although it was a new car the radio manual was missing and I had to order one, which eventually came with about 20 pages of diagrams and instructions. Okay, so with concerted study I could use it, but I was a lot younger then.
Although I have not driven a car for 10 years, I have been in new ones here. The advances over what I was used to have been extraordinary. For example, the side mirrors fold when the car is turned off. But the electronics are amazing. There is a beep that gets almost violent when you get close to another car or object when parking, a massive touch screen in the middle of the dashboard for such things as GPS maps, radio controls, A/C controls, the image from a rear-pointing camera so you can see what you’re backing into, and what else I have no idea. The GPS talks to you. I can just imagine it saying "You idiot, you just missed your turn." When I was a lot younger I could identify the brand of almost any car even at a short distance – but today they all look the same – clamshells.
At my age, learning new technology is like learning a new language and although I’ve been living in China for a decade I only know some words and phrases but am entirely incapable of carrying on a conversation. People have asked me if I can speak Chinese and I have to admit that I don’t, which surprises them but I tell them the old adage: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” which I then have to explain by telling them that you can teach a puppy to beg, roll over, shake hands, etc. but if you try that with an old dog all they do is lie down and ignore you.
Who else would like to do a little car-ownership time travel and drive an old car instead of a computerized electronic masterpiece?
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I wanted to post this as a blog but I had no idea how to do it.
This is a photo of my 2nd car. A 1949 Ford flathead V8 convertible. (taken of the internet) Mine didn't have fender skirts and was primer colored.
This was my first car. A 1941 Chevy Special Deluxe 4 door...Now that baby was a tank..I once ran over a stop sign and it didn't even leave a scratch in the car.. Photo taken off the internet.
I am presently driving an old car. The Enochobile.
It is an OldsmoBuick (Olds chassis, Buick Engine. GM parts all inter-changeable).
It is also known as a Rolls Canardly. That is because it rolls down one hill, and can hardly get up another.
It sports Chrome fender dents, factory installed rust sports, occasionally operative engine, power gas usage, edible mud flaps, and two through the floor breaks (put your feet through holes in the floor and slow down by dragging your tootsies on the road).
Below you could find a photo of the device, had I uploaded it.
Enoch, adding Quite messin, use Wesson to the cranky case.
This was my first automobile. It had a six cylinder engine and a few blocks in the trunk. Kind of made it stand up in the front. I found the 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne very useful as I was able to make extra money driving around town killing mosquitoes. Rebuilt the engine and changed the rings. Pulled it for two miles trying to get it to turn over. It was like pulling your underwear out of the clothes hamper after that as nothing had changed.
Sold it for $100.00 later and the last time I saw it, when I passed it I ran into a stop sign, but didn't get bit by any mosquitoes.
Photo from Internet
Back in a little while. I do have some pics but need to get them out. 1959 Bel Aire and 1962 Galaxy. First and second cars.
Ah, made it. Couldn't miss flag football this morning. My 6 year old grandson was playing; if not with skill, at least with enthusiasm.
Blue, 1959 Chevy Bel Aire, loaded up for camping in 1965. When the trailer was on, the rear end was fairly level. Without the trailer, the overload springs made the rear end stick up quite a bit. That big, nasty looking trailer hitch sticking out meant that few were brave enough to tailgate.
At 68 mph, those fins acted as airfoils and would actually lift the rear wheels off the road.
When my dad got another vehicle in '67, he gave the Chevy to me. I drove it for about a year, then got this one:
1962 Ford Galaxie. Looks really nasty but it sure would move. The previous owner had replaced the original engine with a 352 Thunderbird Interceptor engine taken from a Michigan State Police car. It's amazing how many people will bet against a car winning a race just based on looks. A number of times I buried the speedometer at 120 and she still had a lot left.
When I graduated with my B.A. in 1958 my father rewarded me with a brand new black 1959 Pontiac Parisienne (Canadian version of the Bonneville) convertible. I eventually traded it for a new 1964 Pontiac Parisienne convertible, and then traded that on a new 1970 Pontiac Grand Am (the one with the big hard rubber (?) nose). I loved Pontiacs and although it didn't bother me much when GM stopped producing Oldsmobiles, I was really upset when they stopped the Pontiac brand.
Stock photo:
I should have indicated that the '50 Ford photo I posted was from the internet. Although the model was the same, mine was beige with a dark brown top.
All of mine from the yard of where I happened to be. I've always run old trucks. I like em and do not need the electronics and computers found on newer rigs. Ran tons of 50's Chevy's and Fords throughout the 70's. Thus far, the FJ60 rules.
Old cars are cool in museums and slow-rolling parades. They are death-traps on the road. It's okay, I guess, if a driver wants to kill himself, but these too-stiff bodies raise the danger to others.
In 2009 (a long time ago in terms of design and development) Chevrolet demonstrated
I assume you must have posted a YouTube. Can you describe it for me?
As for your comment, surely you are exaggerating. I would have felt a lot safer in my father's 1947 Chrysler than in my last car, a Toyota Camry of around 2001 vintage.
It shows a standard "frontal offset" collision between a 1959 Bel Air and a 2009 Malibu -- that's already seven years old, a long time in crash-safety development.
Both cars are totaled, but the Malibu driver has only a foot injury... maybe . Meanwhile, the Bel Air driver has multiple injuries to just about every part of his body. Basically... he's dead.
Crashworthiness is not about the car surviving; it's about the occupants surviving. That happens best when the car sacrifices itself, absorbing collision energy by transforming it into folded metal, rather than transmitting that energy into the occupants in the form of a fast-moving steering wheel and dashboard.
I would have felt a lot safer in my father's 1947 Chrysler than in my last car, a Toyota Camry of around 2001 vintage.
Most people feel safer in old cars with thicker-gauge sheetmetal... but they're wrong. The whole point is for the body to be crushed gradually, absorbing the shock. "Gradually" being measured in milliseconds, of course!
About ten years ago, I had two very nasty accidents, one after the other (neither one my fault, but that really doesn't matter...
). Both cars totaled. I broke my left hand, when it left the steering wheel and met the dashboard a bit hard. In non-crush cars, I would have been dead both times.
Like an armed peasantry, I consider my FJ60 as analogous to a form of detente. Mini Cooper's and smaller cans seem intent on avoidance. Smart tactics. I have been smacked pretty violently by two modern cars in the last decade. My damage, a small dent in the front bumper and loss of a light lens and about the same when rear ended. The Prius that hit me was totaled. Come to think of it, though I never looked into it, the other probably was as well. If memory serves it was a small Honda of some ilk. At least one occupant in each rig was hauled off in a meat wagon.
Heck, I had a gator tail come close to totaling out a friends Prius on a run to Flarda last year. Took out most of the front end and whatever crap they had hanging down there. Apparently mechanics don't think too highly of those rigs.
About two months later I was doing a Flarda run myself. North of Gainesville in the wee hours, pitch black night and locked in the slow lane with a wall of diesel rigs in every lane to the left. Nowhere to go as everyone driving to The State of The Rat seem to think that tail gating at high speed is a fine idea. Anyhow, big ass gator tail outa nowhere. When I stopped at the next exit the only evidence was a bit of black rubber on the front of the hood. Though it hard as a SEC LB it was a just small lurch followed by a second of terror. No doubt it was a code brown for the folks tail gating behind me as it banged of the bumper and grill, smacked the windshield and went high over the top. Evidently it hit no one back there though.
Having cut a number of folks out of crushed rigs as well as picking up leftovers, the small cars inevitably came out on the short end of the stick as far as protection of meat goes. Refusing to make use of seat belts seems more of a sure fire way to end up taking a dirt nap. At least in the anecdotal eye witness evidence of this goober. Non scientific, for certain sure, but I'm still gonna go with slow and HD.
For me, it is more about utilitarian use anyhow. I've gotta lug tools, big dawgs, loads of wood products, survival gear, firearms, dead critters and such. The little road warriors just don't cut it.
In Kenya, my Lil Brother drives an old diesel powered FJ60 and a expedition rigged Defender 110. Same philosophy.
Here's to The Fast Tractor. An 80 series at work. I still prefer the old 60's.
If you're trying to say that a car is at a disadvantage against a truck, then say it. You won't get an argument from me. I was talking about old cars against new.
You could also talk about trucks against tanks.
Or apples against oranges.
Kind of a picky argument but, A-OK. My point, other than the utilitarian nature of choice, is old vs new. Fuel injection vs carbed. Computers vs. Mechanicals. Analog vs Digital, so to speak.
Nostalgia is fine. Like I said, the old cars are fine in museums and slow-rolling parades.
How we should defray the cost of that nostalgia is a whole different can of worms.
For many of us old rides are all we can afford. They need to be simple enough to fix ourselves. Recyclables, as it were. On that level both cost factor and ease of fixability lean toward the mechanicals. On a more holistic scale, and planet wise, they probably are not quite as healthy. It's why folks who are not moneyed shop at China Mart too.
They need to be simple enough to fix ourselves. Recyclables, as it were.
I know what you mean. I knew how to do all basic maintenance on my first few cars -- timing, plugs, ... . Now, I only open the hood to fill the windshield washer.
Of course those cars were simple because they were primitive. They spewed CO2, and got horrible mileage.
Better performance requires more sophistication, in all fields. Remember medical practice when we were kids?
Yeah, remember being able to stand within the engine compartment to change points and plugs? Setting points with a matchbook cover.
You are correct. The Horror of the FJ60 is the mileage. It'll get you wherever you wish to roam but at a price. It has never stranded me in the deep woods with an unfixable problem. Never been stuck in the deep woods. I did try to drive over a fallen tree during a night blizzard going up the mountain to the cabin. At times I do believe I need to hire a valet, of sorts, with an Idiot Whistle for loudly blowing at me every time I do something extremely questionable.
I'd left the chainsaw at home too. Good move. Had to hike up the mountain with Big Dawg in about a foot of snow, get the saw and the power puller, just in case, then hike back down and get out of my mess. Not the FJ's fault.
Despite the shortcomings the good outweighs the bad and I still love old rigs. Old bikes too. Got a semi old dual carbed cycle. Modern enough to run a shaft drive though...
best to you
My first ride was a Simca Aronde -- a French car that my father (Army) had brought back from Europe. Totally inapt for US driving conditions. Blew the rear axle twice, just going from school (southern Pennsylvania) to home (northern Virginia).
My first "real" car was a Plymouth Valiant slant-six. Bulletproof. Took me back and forth across the country Army, again) I dunno how many times. Dumpy little thing. I loved it!
I too spent some time in a Valiant. My Grand Maw had one. The passenger door would swing open with every hard term. That thing lasted forever.
Wasn't the Valiant the car of choice within Salvadoran death squads back during the dirty wars?
Wasn't the Valiant the car of choice within Salvadoran death squads back during the dirty wars?
Yikes!!
My girlfriend had a Valiant in white. The car was indestructible (believe me, it seemed like we tried). Great car.
I do remember Medical from back when. The Doc used to come to the house and give me a tablespoon of whiskey, lemon juice and honey. Same as my Maw. He'd also take a ham or venison or such for payment. He was a morphine addict as well as our local Doc. He did seem to keep it all balanced. Maybe. He didn't kill any of us.
For many of us old rides are all we can afford. They need to be simple enough to fix ourselves. Recyclables, as it were. On that level both cost factor and ease of fixability lean toward the mechanicals. On a more holistic scale, and planet wise, they probably are not quite as healthy. It's why folks who are not moneyed shop at China Mart too.
I'm really not trying to get in a pissing match about transportation though, I pretty much just like old mechanical things. Part of the K.I.S.S. principal in action.
I can't compete with you fellows but in the spirit of the article here's my contribution. My Dad brought me home my first car on Valentine's day. It was a 1965 blue mustang. It needed some work but I loved that car more than anything. I remember every so often the horn would go off in the middle of the night and I'd stumble outside lift the hood and unhook the horn. In the morning before school I'd lift the hood and hook the horn back up. I should have known my first marriage wasn't going to last when he talked me in to getting rid of her. That was one of the hardest decisions I ever made so it should have been a clue when I had to seriously pause whether I should let her go or him go. Clearly I was very young and naive back then because the answer seems so clear now........hahahaha!
Internet Photo
Sweet. Was it the Texas Bluebonnet Blue model?
Don't feel guilty. You are not alone. To this day there are many trucks in my history that I miss more than my ex. Not my Dog though. Miss him more.
Well, I sure as hell miss my '50 Ford. Those were the days in high school when we had 3 options to choose from in Grade 11 - Motor mechanics (take apart and put together again a Chevy or Ford engine), Woodworking (learn to build a chair or a table), but thankfully I chose Commercial (touch typing and simple bookkeeping). Since car engines became so much more sophisticated and complex and electronic I would never be able to afford the equipment needed to fix them, and since I didn't have room for a lathe, circular and band saws, etc. and could buy used furniture cheaper than trying to build from scratch that wasn't my option. But NOW, as I sit at my computer and don't need to look at the keyboard as I type and use the whole of both my hands I realize that I made the right choice.
It's a generational thing. My son is pretty good with his hands -- does all kinds of work in his house.
But it wouldn't occur to him to repair a car.
Great Car PJ.
Yes Tex - It was a bluebonnet. I loved her!! Through the years I've thought about getting another one but the time never seemed to be right with family and career and soon it was forgotten. Recently (within the year) during one of my hiking excursions I came upon a mustang that was sitting outside someone's house and it was for sale. Someone had painted it pale yellow (yuck!). anyhow, I thought about pulling over and taking a look. My youngest son needed a car but I just couldn't bring myself to see him sitting in MY CAR so I decided not to stop. it would have been too hard to walk away.
I am jealous. Almost had one of those around years ago. My wife, at the time, mentioned to me in a casual tone that her Grand Maw in Texas had offered her the 65 Bluebonnet Stang, but she'd told her she liked her Beetle better and to give it to cousin Lester in Odessa. The horror. The horror.
Who ever said the Mustang is a girl-car?
Nice ride!
One of my best and oldest friends bought one Mustang after another - still drives an old one. He loved his "Mouse" (as he called it).
I'd have to say you made the way wrong decision! But hormones clearly overrode horsepower!
My first car was a green '61 ford falcon. Three speed on the column. That car had an amazing clutch, cuz i certainly gave it hell while i was learning to drive! The weekend of my 17th birthday, i came home to see a beautiful '74 Monte Carlo in the driveway. I thought it was my birthday present! Silly me!
But hormones clearly overrode horsepower!
I wish that were the case. At the time I didn't have anything to compare it to. knowing what I know now - I'd have kept the car because the other was definitely NOT worth the ride. lol
This was my first car:
A Chevy Biscayne in Harvest Gold. By the time I got it, it was about 15 years old and had a hole rotted into the side back panels, so if I hung a right turn and there was anything in the trunk, it would fall out. I bought it for $100 and after 3 years sold it for $100.
It was replaced with this:
No I am not kidding. This was the exact car. My uncle was a mechanic for the NYC police department and he took me to an auction to buy a used one. When you bought one, they painted over the NYC Police logos and top the blue color of the car. I got it for $300, which was a great price at the time. The car has so much power in it, that I had to put sand bags into the trunk in the winter so that it would spin out. I mean that car flew!
Kind of a funny car for a girl to have.. but it always attracted the guys who were into cars.
The cop-car is super-cool!
The Biscayne... not so much...
I have to agree with you, Bob. I hated that Biscayne, but it was all I could afford (I was 17). The funny thing is, that because of that car, I took shop, and ended up with a part time job in an auto body shop doing body repairs. I was the only girl in the joint welding metal and doing plastic work. I did finally fix the hole in the side, but still, I could wait to buy another car.. which the job afforded me to do.
A girl in the body shop... back when "body shop" meant "car body". Very cool!
Did the cop car come with a cage between the front and back seats? That might have been good for driving the kids.
Love the Fury. Had a Crown Vic for awhile. They will scoot.
My first car was 1954 Chevy Bel Aire very like this one. Same paint job, no fender skirts and no sun visor. Paid 50 dollars for it. Didn't even have a driver's license at that time.
My second car, first one with a driver's license was a 63 Falcon Futura just like this one. Same paint job, better wheel covers.
The Chevy was cool. The Ford.... ummm...